Learn about the rise of impact investing and social entrepreneurship in Japan, with reference to examples in the Tohoku region, where numerous social ventures rose and have grown after the Great East-Japan Earthquake in 2011.

GLOBIS Seminar:“Investing for Social Impact and Social Entrepreneurship in Japan"

As a director of the KIBOW Foundation, GLOBIS faculty Reiji Yamanaka has been active in hands-on support for socially-oriented ventures in Tohoku. He will speak about impact investing and social entrepreneurs in the region. Our special guest moderator Devin Stewart, Senior Program Director at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, will then engage Mr. Yamanaka and the audience for lively exchange of views and opinions, in an inspiring, broad and open-ended dialogue.

According to Wikipedia, impact investing refers to "investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return." While it is somewhat new in Japan, it is growing as a force with potential to drive positive social change in the country.

Mr. Stewart's writings have appeared in more than ten languages in numerous publications, including Foreign Affairs, the American Interest, Newsweek, Foreign Policy, SAIS Review, Ethics & International Affairs, the Wall Street Journal, the International Herald Tribune, Current History, the Asahi Shimbun, and the National Interest. He is a contributing author to several monographs and books, including What Do We Do about Inequality? (the Wicked Problems Collaborative, 2015), International Relations: Perspectives, Controversies, and Readings (Cengage, 2013), Reimagining Japan: The Quest for a Future that Works (Simon & Schuster, 2011), Tsunami: Japan's Post-Fukushima Future (Foreign Policy, 2011), and Energy Security Challenges for the 21st Century: A Reference Handbook (Praeger Security International, 2009).

He earned an MA at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a BA from the University of Delaware. He currently lives in New York City.